Universal Studios' Nintendo themed area will open in 2020

Things have been very quiet since last year's announcement that Nintendo is working with Universal Studios to bring its worlds and characters to life in theme park form. However a report from Japanese news site Sankei has revealed that the first Nintendo theme park area will be added to Universal Studios Japan, and open in 2020 to coincide with the hosting of the Olympic games.

The area will cost a whopping $365 million, a similar investment to The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter section of the Osaka-based park. It's reported to largely focus on Mario - understandable given his global mascot status - but it would seem to remiss not to involve other characters too. Perhaps Universal should look at our guide to building the ultimate Nintendo theme park.

In terms of location in the park, the area above is apparently only used as an events space but that's going to change fast. There's no news yet of Nintendo additions to theme parks outside of Japan but the initial announcement last year also talked about Universal's Orlando park so it probably won't be too long before we hear of Mario related fun.